Temple girls hold off Greenville

AUGUSTA — It may not have come the way it wanted, but the Temple Academy girls basketball team will play another day.

The No. 3 Bereans held off No. 6 Greenville 42-40 in a Class D South quarterfinal game Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Temple girls basketball team celebrates a hard-fought 42-40 victory over Greenville in a D South quarterfinal game Saturday morning at the Augusta Civic Center. Photo by Amber Waterman Thomas

Veronica Rossignol soars to the basket to make a shot past Greenville defender Morgan Noyes during a Class D South quarterfinal game Saturday morning at the Augusta Civic Center Photo by Amber Waterman Thomas

Greenville's Jordan Mann fights to get the ball from Temple's Daphne Labbe during the second half of a Class D South quarterfinal Saturday in Augusta. Temple topped the Lakers 42-40. Photo by Amber Waterman Thomas

Temple (14-5) will meet No. 2 Vinalhaven in the semifinals at 10 a.m., Thursday at the ACC.

The Bereans took advantage of a young Lakers squad (four juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen), forcing 29 total turnovers.

“(The strategy was) pressure on them (defensively) the entire game, use different presses, try not to make it a half-court game,” Temple head coach Michael Gorman said. “That was the plan.”

They were powered offensively by senior forward Kiara Carr, who scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Both teams traded blows in the first half, with six different lead changes. Greenville (8-11) had the edge in the first quarter, outscoring Temple 8-7. But the Lakers fell into foul trouble — 11 team fouls in the first half — which gave Temple opportunities to make up points at the foul line. A Carr 3-pointer helped give the Bereans a 19-15 lead at halftime.

Greenville came out strong in the third quarter, led by freshman guard Jessica Pomerleau, who scored a team-high 17 points. She scored nine of those points in the third quarter alone. Temple answered with the play of Carr (six points in the quarter) and Selam Heinrich, who scored four of her seven points in the period. Heading into the final stanza, the Bereans clung to a 31-29 lead.

Greenville managed to tie the game 33-33 early in the fourth, and the two teams would trade baskets for the rest of the quarter. Temple — up 40-39 with a minute to play — extended the lead when guard Veronica Rossignol found Carr cutting right underneath the basket and fed her an excellent pass. Carr finished the play with a layup to give the Bereans a 42-39 lead. Greenville then cut it to 42-40 with a free throw.

“Me and (Rossignol) work really well together,” Carr said. “She usually sees me on the floor wherever I am.”

Greenville had one last opportunity for the win, but Bianca Breton’s 3-point shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Temple walked away with the victory.

Deleyni Carr added five points for the Bereans, while Rossignol chipped in with four points.

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